Earth’s ‘Second Moon’ Set To Disappear, Won’t Return Until 2055

Nicknamed as a “mini moon” or “second moon,” asteroid 2024 PT5 was first seen on August 7 by a NASA-sponsored asteroid detecting system. This bus-sized asteroid is currently approaching the end of its close visit to Earth and will vanish until 2055. The asteroid was momentarily trapped by Earth’s gravity and became a “mini moon” between September 29 and November 25. Stargazers and space enthusiasts have been delighted by this unusual occurrence, but because of its small size and dim brightness, the asteroid was not visible to the naked eye. Most people were not able to see it because only professional telescopes can detect it.

According to The Metro, the mini-moon is only 3,760,000 km from Earth. That certainly might sound like a lot-or at least how far the sofa from the TV remote can feel sometimes-but it’s barely a stone’s throw in the world of space.

Also Read | Earth’s ‘Second Moon’ To Be Visible Today. All About Asteroid 2024 PT5

‘Mini’ is also the key word here. Asteroid 2024 PT5 is only 37 feet or so long-the size of a bus. The mini-moon is roughly 11,400,000 feet. Our new lunar neighbour has travelled far to reach us. Experts think it hails from the Arjuna asteroid belt, a ring of primordial crumbs 93 million miles from the Sun.

NASA officials speculate it might be a fragment of the Earth’s Moon itself from an ancient impact that has by pure chance found its way back.PT5 was first picked up by Complutense University of Madrid scientists using a powerful NASA-funded telescope in Sutherland, South Africa, as per the news outlet.

‘Mini-moons’ are celestial objects like asteroids or comets that do drive-by visits to the Earth. Though some were later revealed by astronomers to be diminutive space junk like satellite scraps or lost rockets.

Asteroid 2024 PT5

According to NASA, Asteroid 2024 PT5 was first observed on August 7, 2024, by the Sutherland, South Africa, telescope of the University of Hawai’i’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), which is funded by NASA. Estimated to be about 33 feet (10 meters) wide, the asteroid does not pose a hazard to Earth.